Seeing Red
by DavinciDaSecond
Summary: Chronicling the lives of the cul de sac kids in high school, this story centers around two teenagers, each with their own demons. Their individual struggles however, unexpectedly brings them together in ways they never imagined. (Rating may change in the future)


The world was still black as the piercing sound of his alarm clock waxed into a high volume. Knowing what today was, and how his dad would react if he had to come into his room and turn the alarm off for him _again_, like nearly every day during summer, he shot up out of his bed. He proceeded to sprint to the alarm clock and shut it off. As the noise came to an abrupt stop, his mind was going a thousand miles a minute. Today was the first day of his sophomore year in high school. He couldn't help but remember how freshman year was, the life changes he had to endure and how alone he felt. He knew that people liked him – well, at least some people – for his friendliness and positive attitude. But, he never felt anyone truly _understood _him. He never had a true friend, someone to confide in when things were eating away at him, someone to talk to about anything or nothing at all, someone to laugh and have inside jokes with. He always wondered what it was like to have someone in his life like that. He wondered if he would ever even figure that out. And he knew that he would have no chance finding out how it would feel if he kept hauling that piece of wood for the rest of his life. He had to move on.

_You sure you're ready for this?_

"I am ready for this. I have to be." Jonny was talking to himself again. He had to ever since he reconciled with the fact that Plank was just an outlet for that other side of him. The more aggressive side, the braver side. Possibly the more dangerous side. Every time that Plank had something sarcastic or sardonic to say when he observed something, it was really just Jonny. Jonny was the one who secretly held all those cynical views of the world and people, just as he held the positive views.

_All those damn kids. You'll have to deal with them for another fucking nine months…_

"Maybe they've changed. Just like I've changed."

He looked in the mirror. Johnny grew to be decently tall, outgrowing many of the girls in the cul de sac. He grew his hair out a little so he was no longer bald, but it barely past a centimeter above his head. His entire face grew, except for his nose, which made it look smaller compared to the rest of his tired visage. His jaw line was continuously becoming more defined, and he lost the big cheeks that made his head look even bigger than it was, something he was teased for time and time again when he was younger. As for his body, ever since he started running track for the high school team, he continuously grew. He was much taller than last year, and his legs grew to be massive. His arms got long, with little muscle growth, and his torso became well defined. His head was still slightly big compared to the rest of his body, not like he really was concerned, but he was pleased to see that his shoulders widened a bit. If he didn't feel like a new man, he certainly looked like one. He wanted to get rid of his hair though, he liked it bald.

After a shower and the usual brushing of the teeth, he put on his t-shirt and shorts. It was still hot out, even though it was September, and he figured that the jeans could wait for another month or so. He went down stairs into his small kitchen to see that his mom left him some waffles before she left for work. He took the plate and downed the waffles faster than even he thought he could eat, and quickly washed the plates in the sink. He grabbed his backpack as he walked and opened the door into his garage; the car was gone. He figured his mother missed the bus that she rode to commute to her job and had to use the car instead. He still had time.

He saw the old scooter near the hanging bikes near the back of the garage. His trusty old scooter that he rode on so many summers. Whether it was cruising through the lane, racing Kevin, or getting an adrenaline rush riding down hills, he always loved hearing those wheels roll smoothly on the pavement. He grabbed it and exited the garage, remembering to pull the garage door back down because his mother wouldn't let him hear the end of it if she came home seeing it open.

"Here goes nothing."

Jonny pushed off the ground with his high foot and went off down his street. The high school was only about six minutes away if he went fast enough, so he was riding down hills and streets as fast as he possibly could, taking the back roads down the lane so he didn't have to wade through cars and traffic lights. He smiled. The air went over his head as he prepared to go down a steep hill, and he didn't bother slowing down. He pushed off just at the beginning of his descent and crouched slightly to keep himself balanced. He let out a satisfied yelp as he came at the end of the descent and made a sharp turn to his left.

The world was slowly becoming more and more blurry as he increased his speed, and he couldn't help but chuckle at the thrill of moving so fast, a thrill he got to a similar, yet slightly less extent when he ran on the track. He was looking forward to winter when the indoor season would start.

It looked like he passed someone walking as the high school came into view. He slowly started to decelerate and got off his scooter near the bike rack. He looked behind him and saw a black motorcycle with bright crimson red flames on the sides. Jonny would bet his life savings it was Kevin's. Jonny folded his scooter and put it in his backpack. He looked up at the school, with a big banner that read: "Welcome Back, Students of Peach Creek High!" He walked in the front doors when he heard call his name behind him.

"Hey there, Jonny."

That voice was unmistakable. He turned around to see Nazz in front of him.

"Hey Nazz!" Jonny said, genuinely pleased to see her. "How was Quebec?" Nazz left soon after freshman year ended to see family up in Canada.

"Eh, you know, it was good, to be honest. It was a good way to prepare for French class, at least." She said with a smile. "You've gotten … pretty tall, dude. And big." She said this with some surprise and a little bit of desire. Jonny didn't seem to notice her change in tone when she mentioned his change in frame

"Oh yeah, I've been running a lot during the summer, seems to be working well for me." He said confidently.

"It definitely has been." She was obviously impressed. "So, I'll see you in class? Well, if we have class together."

"Oh yeah, definitely. I'll see you in there." Suddenly, a young man popped up behind her.

"Hey babe."

Nazz turned around before squealing. "Kevin!" She gave him a tight hug and Kevin proceeded to kiss her.

Jonny watched in slight disappointment as the couple had their arms around each other. But who wouldn't? Nazz was the most sought out girl in Peach Creek and every boy wanted her save for Rolf and Jimmy. Kevin was lucky, Jonny thought, to have her.

_Maybe he's luckier than he deserves to be. _

Jonny banished these thoughts out of his head as soon as they came, and continued to keep his pleasant disposition towards the neighborhood jock.

Kevin noticed the tall young man in front of him and tipped his hat to him while throwing his arm over his girlfriend's shoulder. "Sup Jonny? You got huge, man. What's your mom been feeding ya?" Jonny chuckled.

"Nothing that I haven't been choking down already." He quipped. I could ask the same of you.

Kevin didn't grow as much in inches as he did in his robust frame. He got a lot more muscular ever since playing for the football team and seemed to be growing quite a bit of facial hair as well. He seemed to be doing well for himself. He got MVP during both his freshman and sophomore years, and by the way things looked he would keep going on strong in his junior year. No doubt college scouts would be vying for his attention, if they haven't been already.

"Yeah well, you know, football camp does that to ya. See you inside." Kevin grabbed Nazz's hand and proceeded to walk in. Nazz turned around to give Jonny one last wave as she walked in. Jonny waved back, and was preparing to walk in himself until he saw Edd a.k.a Double D, the neighborhood genius, walking up the stairs towards the entrance. Jonny was actually happy to see him when he wasn't going along with one of Eddy's tired scams. Edd looked up when he saw Jonny up on the top of the stairs.

"Jonny?" He said, surprised.

"Hey ya, Double D" Jonny replied, somewhat sheepishly.

Edd smiled. "Why, hello. I almost didn't recognize you."

"Where's Ed and Eddy?"

Edd rolled his eyes. "They were wasting too much time, I tried to wake both of them up for the first day, but as usual, you can't count on those two to get up for anything besides the prospect of conjuring up some fiasco of some sort."

"Heh, I hear ya. Wanna head inside?"

"Certainly." Edd smiled and both boys proceeded to enter the school.

Still about a block away from the school, Ed, his little sister and Sarah were all on their way to their first day of classes. Ed's mom insisted that he walk Sarah to her first day of freshman year, and considering their ever improving relationship, neither sibling seemed to mind that much. Ed and Sarah became closer as time passed, with Sarah being less impatient and controlling and with Ed being less immature. They still had their differences, as most siblings do, but Ed was ecstatic at the fact that Sarah matured a lot ever since the whole fiasco between the Eds and Eddy's brother, and started to gain a lot more respect for them. Eddy and Sarah still fought and bickered, but she didn't mind being around him as long as her big brother wasn't too far away.

Not only did she mature in her personality, she matured a lot more physically. She was about 6 inches shorter than Ed, and considering Ed's giant height, that automatically gave her a few inches over most of the boys in Peach Creek. Puberty also was starting to make her bloom into a very beautiful young woman. She was decently filling out in many of the places that would have any man vying for her attention, and as young as she was, could rival Nazz when it came to looks. She grew her hair down past her shoulders and tied it into a long braid, something she decided to do only a week past. She was still somewhat of a tomboy and openly embraced any physical challenge, which included playing sports during most of the summer. Even someone as stubborn as Eddy thought she was growing into an attractive young woman, even though he'd never openly admit it.

Eddy was lagging behind, and Ed noticed that he couldn't see him on either side. Ed turned around to see Eddy walking like a wounded puppy.

"Eddy, come on! We're gonna be late." Ed whined. "Double D and Jimmy already went on without us."

"And since when did you get all keyed up for school?" Eddy retorted with a scowl on his face. "I only had, like, three hours of sleep, lay off.

Ed rolled his eyes at Eddy's whining. Ed didn't deviate too much from when he was younger, at least physically. He was however, much taller and was starting to grow his facial hair as well as the hair on his head. He no longer wore his green jacket as it couldn't fit anymore and instead wore a light blue shirt with "Daft Punk" stylized over the top of it, and a black long-sleeved shirt underneath. He did get somewhat more robust, but not too noticeably, keeping a fairly lean frame.

He also became much less air-headed and daft, while gaining more independence and maturity. He still had his moments, but ever since freshman year Ed took life in general a lot more seriously. He got decent grades compared to the abysmal marks he received in middle school, and he became one of the schools most talented artists. Comic books and graphic novels still inspired him and fueled his imagination, but he was slowly learning to deviate fantasy from reality and held himself more accountable for times that he ever slipped up. He was actually looking forward to what junior year would bring.

"Well, maybe you'd have gotten more sleep if you didn't stay up all night trying to throw a party, that no one went to," replied Sarah, who also was tiring of Eddy's attitude.

"Well hey, I don't know what the hell has gotten into you two, but I ain't in a hurry to start listening to teachers drone on and on, deal with stupid school events, or to be doing stupid state testing."

"I thought state testing was in March?" said Ed, confused.

"It is, monobrow, that ain't the point." Eddy deadpanned. "This sucks. School sucks."

"Jeez Eddy, lighten up, huh? It's just this year, and then another, then we're done." Ed was desperately trying to lighten Eddy's mood.

"Can't fucking wait."

Ed exhaled in an exasperated fashion. He still loved Eddy like a brother but was continuously growing frustrated with his horrible attitude towards, well, everything lately. The last month of summer Eddy seemed to fall into a deep bout of dejection, and his mood didn't seem any better today than when it started.

Eddy hadn't changed much physically. He was only around five or six inches taller than he was when he went on that epic trek to find his brother, and he grew his hair out a bit. His jet black hair laid quite nicely on his head, and he constantly spiked it up to gain whatever inches it would provide. He lost his gut but he was still somewhat stocky, and played soccer in both freshman and sophomore years, which surprisingly, he was very good at. He didn't know if he would play this year, for many reasons. One, he knew this year would be 'official' countdown to the end of senior year. He wasn't really in tatters over the fact that his high school year was coming to an end. Even though he would never admit it, Eddy wasn't looking forward to the fact that in really no time at all, his friends would be going to different colleges and leading different lives. He didn't want to let go of his friends, especially not Ed and Double D. This realization that this would most likely be the beginning of the end for the three Eds didn't sit well with Eddy, and as each day passed, he dreaded it.

Sarah broke the silence between the three as they got closer to the entrance. "Well, this is it. The start of high school." She had a nervous tone in her voice.

Ed quickly realized this and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You'll be fine, sis. I promise." Sarah smiled before Eddy got in between them.

"Sorry to break up the _oh so sweet_ moment between you two but I wanna get this over with."

Sarah had an annoyed look on her face while Ed just chuckled amusedly. "Sure thing Eddy."

They opened the doors and went inside.

Kids all over seemed to be in one space as the three could hardly get through the ocean of excited and anxious teenagers. A few, noticeably younger students ran right past Ed and Eddy.

"Ugh, damn freshman. They get more and more annoying every year." Eddy seemed to be getting more and more annoyed by the moment. However, Ed couldn't help but smile at Eddy.

"Hey, we were them once." Ed threw his arm around his grumpy friend, intent on making him feel at least a little bit better. Eddy's expression softened a bit when Ed comforted him, and almost, _just _almost, smiled.

Sarah looked around, and constantly went back and forth between looking at the seemingly endless sea of people and looking at her brother and Eddy. She couldn't believe how much had changed. Years ago she didn't want to even be near Ed unless she absolutely had to or unless she wanted something from him. Now, although it wasn't obvious, he was one of her main sources of comfort and security, especially during a time where her life was changing in ways that she never thought about. She used to hate Eddy even more than Ed, as they always used to bicker and fight and never even once got along. Even though Eddy still annoyed her now, it was to a significantly lesser extent, and evolved into more or less a love-hate relationship. In some cases, she wouldn't even mind calling Eddy her friend.

Racing thoughts stopped on a dime as a familiar voice called her name.

"Sarah! Sarah!"

Sarah looked to the side of her to see Jimmy trying his best to dodge the kids and get to her location. She smiled as she walked through the crowd to see him and Jimmy greeted her with a tight, loving hug.

"I thought I'd never find you! What took you so long?"

"Well you know, I had to wait up for _these _two." Sarah pointed with her thumb towards her brother and Eddy.

"Naturally." Jimmy smirked, now finding the reason she got there a bit late quite obvious.

Jimmy finally got rid of the horrid retainer during the summer, and grew to be about average height for a male at his age. He was still about an inch or so shorter than Sarah in height and still had a bit of growing to do, though. Since spending most of his time with Johnny and Rolf in the Urban Ranger group, Jimmy grew to be a lot less effeminate, but still loved everything he did like he was younger, like fashion, tea parties, and from time to time, his Mister Yum-Yum. His hair still resembled, as Rolf once put it, 'the backside of a chicken', so he retained his trademark trait.

"Since you needed extra time to catch up, I took the liberty of grabbing your schedule along with mine. You're in homeroom with me!" Jimmy said, handing Sarah her schedule and sporting a beaming smile. Sarah squealed.

"This is going to be an awesome year!"

"Tell me about it, girlfriend! Ready to go?"

"Yeah. Just a sec …"

Sarah turned to her older brother, who saw his sister's reunion with her best friend and smiled understandingly. Sarah waved happily at Ed while Ed blew a kiss at his little sister. Sarah turned back to Jimmy.

"Lets go!" Sarah said excitedly, pulling Jimmy by his hand.

Ed watched as his sister left his sight. As if he said his thoughts out loud, a voice seemed to respond directly to them.

"She'll be alright, Ed."

Ed turned to his side to see Double D, who smiled at his friend sympathetically.

"Well look who decided to join us!" Eddy said happily.

"I believe that line should be reserved for me, considering the fact that you both took your sweet time." Edd retorted, smirking. "I took the liberty of procuring our schedules. It seems like we're all in homeroom together." Edd smiled.

"Finally!" Eddy said, smiling for the first time in what seemed like forever. The first two years were such a drag, it's about time they got the three musketeers together."

"Three as one!" Ed yelled excitedly, pulling the two by the neck in a loving embrace.

"Good to see some things never change." Edd smiled.

"Tell me about it." Eddy replied.

Ed let go of the two, still smiling, as they all walked to homeroom, talking excitedly and wading through the crowd to get to class before the bell.

This was going to be an interesting year indeed …

**A/N: **I thought this story up out of inspiration to my own life events and because I've always wanted to write a high school story with Ed, Edd n Eddy. I know that this first chapter seems a little all over the place, as I wanted to reintroduce most of the characters and explain how they've changed ( and how they haven't). But this story as a whole will center mostly around Jonny and Sarah, both individually and how they grow with their relationship with each other, especially considering how this is one of the most unlikely and potentially most complicated couplings imaginable in the cartoon (a tall order, but I'll make it happen). It will also center around their relationships with the other characters, because even though everyone has changed to some extent, they're still the same characters with the same quirks. Some characters weren't introduced in the first chapter but will be introduced later.

Reviews will be appreciated, I'm going to need as much constructive criticism as possible. I do tend to write quite slowly and I can almost never promise a quick update, but I'll do my best when it comes to that, I promise.

On an semi-unrelated note, I've decided to put "The Last Ed" on an indefinite hiatus because I've simply run out of creative juice for the story right now. It seemed promising at first, but considering how long it took to get the fourth chapter out, it doesn't seem likely that I'll know what to write about next. Maybe somewhere in the future I'll pick it up again.


End file.
